


Brothers

by FateTrash



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Age Swap, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Younger brother Karna and Older brother Arjuna, cute nonesense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6503758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FateTrash/pseuds/FateTrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This work was inspired by this: https://twitter.com/pvc_parfait/status/718529250094149632</p>
<p>They draw awesome things, you should check it out. </p>
<p>This is a modern setting AU where Karna is the younger brother, and Arjuna, the older brother. They spend some time together, learning how to be siblings in their own way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brothers

He would say he took pride in being who he was, in his family, and always made sure to uphold himself as perfect as possible whenever in public. He wouldn’t say he was arrogant, but simply that he knew there was a sort of pride he should hold. He also took pride in the fact that mother trusted him more than his other siblings to talk to him about her life, her affairs. He took the news that he had a younger brother he had never met before in easy strides. Despite so, he hadn’t thought this would lead to mother would be asking him to babysit said younger brother. But as the request had come from mother directly, Arjuna found himself unable to decline it.

And that is how he found himself in an unfamiliar small house down in a residential area that was close to the trains and supermarkets. The house was…quaint, and not unpleasant. While it was small, it was convenient, close to the transportation, and close to a shopping district where you can get necessities. An ideal place to live for those in middle class. But really, thinking about these things were only a distraction to the… younger brother he was coming face to face with. This younger brother had a whole different skin tone, and his light green eyes reflected a kindness and purity that Arjuna almost felt angry knowing no matter how much he tries, he wouldn’t be able to compete with it.

“This is Karna. Karna, this is Arjuna. Look after each other for today, alright?”

Their mother had left them with these words as the door to the house closed, leaving a tall dark skinned Arjuna standing next to a much shorter, young messy white haired Karna, both with a hand slightly lifted, having waved goodbye. 

Almost in sync, their arms fell back to their side and they turned their attention to only other person remaining in the house with them. There was a moment of awkward silence. Arjuna, to combat the awkwardness spoke up. Karna, to spare Arjuna from the awkwardness out of kindness spoke up as well.

“Uh–”  
“Hello.”

It had the opposite effect. Arjuna falls into silence again, and Karna, with his head canted slightly waited for Arjuna to continue to speak. This creates another bout of silence.

Arjuna knew he was the older one here, he was in university, he had brought his work with him today, expecting to get some work done while half minding his younger brother. It wasn’t something he does often, babysitting. The concept of it was simple, but now that he actually had to do it, he wasn’t able to predict that there would be this awkward moment when they first met. 

“I noticed your brought your laptop with you. University must be busy. I can make us some tea, make yourself at home.” Like a proper host of a home, and not like the age he should be acting - Arjuna’s eyebrows knitted close, how old was the kid, exactly? - welcomed Arjuna easily before walked away to what the other assumed was the kitchen.

The frame of his laptop definitely pushed against the bag that he had brought with him, but who would have thought a child could be so perceptive? He doesn’t argue, though wondered if he should help. If it was tea, then certain someone who looked like they were at around 10 years old can handle that. Arjuna left Karna to it without a word and set up his laptop on the couch.

As expected, Karna was able to handle the tea by himself. While the child seemed curious to know what he was doing, Arjuna didn’t really speak up about it to tell him. Still, in the corner of his eye, it seemed like Karna had nothing to do but poke around left and right trying to see what was on his laptop screen.

…It was oddly cute.

Growing up, his brothers and him hardly took care of each other or had activities that wasn’t competition. So something like this was new to him. It took Arjuna after half an hour to give in. “Have a seat beside him. Do you want to know what I’m working on?” The way Karna’s eyes lit up made the child more blindingly bright than before. …How did he do that?

With tea, and eventually biscuits as well - biscuits that Karna seemed to pull out from his room, were they a special stash of cookies? - Arjuna talked about what his assignments and research was on while Karna listened attentively beside him. Arjuna notices the difference in Karna than with most kids. At least, what he knew of children. Karna wasn’t loud, he doesn’t bug you, he doesn’t swing his feet because they don’t touch the ground. But like any other child, he was definitely curious. 

It was definitely cute.

After some talking on Arjuna’s end, they spent some time in silence while Arjuna worked. Though, he doesn’t get very far when he had to suppress a yawn. He already stayed up late last night working on this, and because he was to mind Karna, he had thought his work would keep him awake. Arjuna looks up as Karna got to his feet all of a sudden, walking over to the porch door and slid it open. 

A gentle breeze rushes in, swaying the creamy coloured curtains with its warm summer breeze. Karna pushes the curtains to the side, revealing the small yard outside. It appeared to him that Arjuna was tired, and he surmised that it was due to their school work. “It’s easier to stay awake when there’s fresh air in the room,” he explained his actions to the older brother who appeared somewhat confused. Karna was uncertain why he was being frowned at afterwards, but he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. He offered the frowning Arjuna a smile, before turning the face the yard and takes a seat on the ground, letting the wind blow against him, ruffling and messing up his hair just a little.

Heaving a sigh, Arjuna closes his laptop with a small sound. He leaves it on the couch, and reaches into his bag, pulling out a small portable game device. He walked over to his younger brother and takes a seat down beside him. “Hey, Karna. I got a few games in here, you want to try them out?” He found himself asking. For some reason, he felt a bit nervous - Karna was much more mature than normal children, would he be interested in playing games? But, all kids liked playing, right, so even Karna would–

“Sure,” sparing Arjuna from thinking himself into the grave, Karna accepted the device with both his hands politely, carefully. He looked it over, and found the power button. 

While the kid was busy working out how to use the game device, Arjuna laid down on his side. Initially, the breeze and fresh air had made him more awake, but perhaps it was because he was so relaxed now, the warm weather was making him tired. He turned his attention to Karna as the younger sibling chose a musical rhythm game. “You turn the music up here,” Arjuna held his head up with one hand, and reached out with his free one to push up the music slightly for Karna. “So you can hear it.”

“Ah. I see, thank-you, Arjuna-nii-san.”

As if a lance had pierced his chest, Arjuna slipped slightly forward. A-a-ah, he didn’t expect that, and didn’t expect it would be a critical hit. 

“Arjuna-nii-san? Are you okay?”

Karna noticed something was wrong. Arjuna frowned to himself, of course he did. “Yes, I’m fine. You should choose free play. The buttons, they’re simple, you can work them out by trying an easy song first.” Arjuna changes the subject to hide the fact that his ears had gotten warm.

“Oh, thank-you.” Seeing Arjuna’s attempt to change the subject, Karna didn’t ask again. Instead, he chose an easy song like Arjuna suggested to work out the controls.

Arjuna quietly watched - well, he tried to quietly watch, instead, he pointed out what Karna should be doing over the side from where he was watching. Eventually, Karna was fine on his own and he had laid down on his side. 

In the middle of the song he was playing - Karna had started to try songs on medium difficulty - Karna spoke up without looking away from the screen. “There’s enough time to rest awhile.”

“And if you run out to the yard and trip, hurt yourself? Mother won’t be pleased.” 

There was a moment of pause before Karna spoke. Arjuna wasn’t sure if the child was weighing his words, or was too distracted by the game. “I won’t.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I can understand that.”

That was not what a child should be saying. Arjuna heaved a sigh. “Alright. You better not run off and hurt yourself.”

“I will be staying right here.” Karna lowered the gaming device into his own lap and picked up Arjuna’s arm, setting it around his side and then on his lap. “This way, you will know if I left.” He said, then picks up the game again to choose a different song to try. He lowered the volume a little, so that he could still hear it, and it wouldn’t be too loud and bother Arjuna from resting.

“…Hmph. Fine.” 

It seemed the two siblings have reached a compromise.

The day was warm, it was a pleasant day to be out. The two siblings, however, preferred to stay inside, somewhere the sunlight could reach, where a breeze would carry in every now and then. As time passed, Arjuna had dozed off, the only give away was his steady breathing and the peaceful expression on his face. Sitting close to him, Karna still had his hands on the gaming device, but they were moving significantly faster before. 

He had definitely moved onto expert songs. Karna didn’t have the luxury of games like this, nor would he desire or ask for them. But considering he was given a chance to try them, he wouldn’t refuse it. Plus, Arjuna had seemed to be concerned about him rejecting the offer, Karna found it difficult to say no to such a request. While he mind traveled, his gaze did too. He looked over to Arjuna, who looked rather peaceful. 

Sparing a moment, Karna reached out a pale hand and gently patted Arjuna on the head. He wasn’t sure, the action felt like something an older brother would do to a younger one, but he was compelled to do it none the less. An affectionate smile lingers on his face, before he pulled his hand away to resume his game. He wasn’t too sure why, but he felt like he was in a much better mood after doing that.

There was a problem. This was a problem. Arjuna had stirred from his light slumber when he felt something brush against his head. He had been about to open his eyes, but through a small peek, he had seen Karna smiling at him. Arjuna could only fight back the urge to react, he couldn’t, he shouldn’t. He could feel his entire face start to heat up, and he could hear that Karna had resumed his game. He couldn’t wake up just yet, that would make Karna suspicious as to if he had woken him up.

And…and…

Arjuna probably didn’t realize it, but he was fighting off a grin from spreading on his face.

Having a normal(?) brotherly relationship wasn’t as awkward or difficult as they thought it would be.


End file.
